Miniature structure



Aug. 3, 1937.

R. J. JAUCH T AL 2,089,028

MINIATURE STRUCTURE Filed June 10, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1937- R. J.JAUCH El AL 2,089,028

MINIATURE STRUCTURE Filed June 10, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug.3, 1937 i'lED STATES T OFFICE 2,089,028 MINIATURE STRUCTURE corporationof Illinois Application June 10, 1935, Serial No. 25,756

14 Claims.

This invention pertains to miniature structures. It is desirable in manyinstances to provide miniature structures such as models of houses,service stations or other building structures which are either fordisplay and advertising purposes or for the amusement and instruction ofchildren. This is particularly evidenced by the manufacture of dollhouses.

In displays for advertisement of housing development, models are builtup, and in many states the schools require that doll houses be providedin one or more of the lower grades for the amusement and instruction ofchildren. It is usual to make such structures of wood, which provesexpensive, and requires-the services of a good carpenter as well as agreat deal of-equipment for the cutting and fashioning of the wood. Thisform of structure, when'bought completed from a department or otherretail store, is very expensive. Where the structures are merelymade'from heavy cardboard, they are very des'tructible, as thestructures areflimsy and no adequate fastening means can be providedbetween the formed 5 sheets of material, even where a composite house ismade, as one of wood and cardboard.

It is thus an object of this invention to provide means for forminginexpensive, but substantially miniature structures Y A further objectis to provide methods of quickly and positively. forming miniaturestructures.

Another object is to provide means for forming miniature structures fromtubes of irregular shape.

made substantially of paper or of formed material made of paper.

With these and various other objects in view the invention may consistof certain novel features of construction and operation as will: be morefully described and particularly pointed out in the specification,drawings and claims appended hereto.

In the drawings which illustrate embodiments of the device and whereinlike reference characters are used to designate like parts- I Figure 1is a perspective elevation of a form of miniature structure,particularly a toy doll house, embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation taken substantially in the plane asindicated by the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view taken substantially in the plane asindicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1; y

A yet further object is to form a dollhouse Figure 4 is an enlargedperspective elevation showing a wound paper tube adapted for use informing the doll house or other miniature structure;

Figure 5 is an elevation of a top portion of an end pattern;

Figure 6 is an elevation of the bottom portion of an end pattern;

Figure '7 is a top portion of the front pattern;

Figure 8 is a bottom portion of the front pattern.

While the drawings in this application show particularly a model dollhouse, and the method of manufacturing the same, it is of courseappreciated-that any form of model structure may be used from theteachings set out in this application. The only difference of course isthe form of construction and the form of patterns and molds necessary tofashion the desired shape of model structure. This is equally applicableto other forms of doll houses, that is, an English type, or fullColonial type of house can be formed equally as well as the form shown.

Referring first of all more particularly to the doll house structureillustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the structure in the illustration ismade from wound tubes of substantially rectangular section, the tubeshaving been Wound, for exampic, on a machine made in accordancewithPatent No. 1,625,470, which machine will of course wind tubes of anypreferred shape.

. The tubes are of substantial construction, and, being wound, arenecessarily strong, but being of paper, can be readily fastenedtogether, as by glue applied to the edges thereof.

The'ends 2B of the house are formed of a plurality of juxtaposed tubes22 cut to the desired length and glued or otherwise secured at the edges26 thereof. Certain of the tubes are interruptedto form the windows 26at the desired placesin the ends thereof. Likewise, the front 28 of thehouse is'made of juxtaposed tubes 30, also secured along the edges 32,the windows 34 being provided at the desired places, and, as shown, adoorway 36 is provided.

The. windows, whereof separate construction, either in the front, sidesor back, may be finished by means of the substantially channel shapedstrip of paper 36 glued or otherwise secured on the legs 38 to the innerand outer portion of the adjacent strips; Where the windows areseparated, as are" the lower windows in the sides, short pieces of'tubes40 may be interposed between the windows. -'Where they are. adjacent,asshown in the lower windows in the front, a

single vertical tube 42 may be provided extending through a suitableaperture 44 provided in the lower tube, or the tube 42 may terminate atthe lower tube, being wedged between the upper and lower tubes 46 and 48forming the upper portions of the window, in which case a clip or foldedangle of paper 50 may be glued or otherwise secured to the post 42 andthe upper and/or lower tubes 46 and 48. It is appreciated of course thatboth upper and lower tubes may be cut out to receive the vertical tube42 in which case the clips are not necessary.

Of course the back of the house may open or entirely closed as desired.

The doorway is completed by means of the be left door 52 hinged as by apiece of scored paper at 54 to swing to open and closed positions, andthe steps 56 may be provided adjacent the entrance, being formed ofdifferent size tubes. The pillars 58 may be wedged in place, or extendedthrough a slot, or otherwise secured to one of the steps 56, extendingbetween said step and the porch roof or covering 60 formed of theslopingtubes 62 and the transverse tubes 64 disposed between thegsloping tubes.

In order to provide the floor for the upper story, in the event that thesame size tubes are being used throughout, instead of placing them withthe; long cross-sectional dimension vertically, one of the layers may beturned on its side, as shown at 66, or a different size tube may beused, the projecting portion forming a means for fastening the floor 68.Of course, it is to be understood that tubes may be used to form theentirefioor and any vertical partitions that are desired, to form thedifferent rooms. The adjacent sections, such as the front and back, maybe fastened together by means of the scored paper corners 10, or one of,the tubes may be divided in half and a half used for each corner.

The roof 12 is shown as formed of adjacent tubes secured together attheir contiguous edges, the tubes forming opposite portions of the roofbeing secured together by means of the scored bent strip 14. A suitablecut out portion may be provided to accommodate the tube forming thechimney 16 which may be extended within the house to a fire-place formedin many of the rooms. The roof may also be fastened to the sides andends of the house by means, of the flanged or scored paper strips 18.

The. inner side of the house may be further decorated by the use of wallpaper glued or otherwise secured to thetubes which form a decorativeinterior, doorways being providedin the partitions in the house toprovide communication between the different rooms. Paper or fabric maybe provided for window curtains or rugs. 'Outside decoration may beprovided as by a window box 82 shown as provided on the front of thehouse and formed of a paper tube. It is of course to be understood thatthev exterior of the house can be painted with a heavy paint which willeliminate the edges, and the interior of the house may be furnished.Also, as an alternative, the outside may be covered with a colored ordecorated paper applied. either after assembly, or during assembly asinthemold to: be described.

However, the tubes may be formed of colored or brick print paper whichwill give a decorative exterior, and as the edges are substantiallyfastened together, as later described, the showing of the edges asillustrated in Figure 1: is'to bring out the use of the paper tubes.

In building a house of this character, the: use

of paper tubes, particularly wound tubes, provides a substantialstructure, and the tubes form a very convenient means of wiring thehouse in that they form conduits for accommodating the wire so that nounsightly wire need be visible on the interior of the house. The methodof wiring is indicated generally in Figure 4 wherein the wire 83 passesthrough the tube and is shown emerging through an aperture 85 forattachment to a lighting appliance, switch or the like.

In forming the wound tubes, the edges 84 and sides 86 of the tubes, suchas illustrated particu-' larly in Figure 4, may have a slight curvature,that is, may be slightly convex. As a means of conveniently forming thehouse, patterns as 88, 90, 92 and 94 may be provided. The patterns onone side may be ruled as shown at 96 to show where the cut tubes are tobe applied. Suitable apertures 98 are provided in the patterns toindicate the placing of the windows. The opposite sides of the paternsmay be conveniently figured, as shown at Hm so that after the tubes areapplied to the lined side of the patterns, the opposite sides may beused for wall paper or the outside covering of thehouse. By building upthese patterns of cut tubes, the house or other structure can be.readily assembled from the directions or plans furnished with the tubes,or tubes can be cut to length by the builder and built into anydesiredshape of structure by the provision of suitable patterns.

It will thusbe appreciated that a very inexpensive, yet attractiveconstruction may be formed,

and it is to be understood that we do not wish to beElimitedby theexact. embodiments of the device shown, which are merely by way ofillustration and not limitation, as various other forms of the devicewill of course, beapparent to those skilled in: the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as ascertained from the scopeof the appendedv claims.

We claim:

In a miniature structure, the combination of an external wall includingexposed paper tubes.

2. A miniature structure constructed of materials including paper tubesexposed to form an external surface.

3. A miniature structure constructed of materials including juxtaposedpaper tubes secured together, and a wall paper backing secured to said;tubes internally of said structure.

3 4. A miniature structure including adjacent walls formed of materialsincluding juxtaposed paper tubes glued together along adjacent edges, I

and. securing means adjacent the corners of said walls.

5. A miniature structure including adjacent walls: formed of materialsincluding juxtaposed paper tubes glued together along adjacent edges,and securing means adjacent the corners of said walls, said securingmeans being a flanged strip secured to each adjacent wall.

6.. In a miniature structure, the combination of a pattern shaped forforming a portion of the structure, paper tubes secured to said patternand fashioned to fit said pattern, said adjacent tubes being securedtogetherat adjacent edges.

'7. A miniature structure constructed of materials including pliabletubular members of substantially rectangular section exposed to form anexternal substantially continuous structural surface:

. 8. A miniature structure constructed of materials including pliabletubular members of substantially polygonal section exposed to form anexternal substantially continuous structural surface.

9. A miniature structure having walls, and a roof supported on saidwalls, said roof being constructed of materials including paper tubesplaced side by side and secured together at the contiguous edges.

10. A miniature structure having Walls, a roof supported on said walls,said roof being constructed of materials including paper tubes placedside by side and secured together at the contiguous edges, said wallsincluding juxtaposed paper tubes secured together, one of the tubes incertain of said walls extending inwardly of the wall forming surface ofthe wall tubes, and a floor member supported on the inwardly extendingportion.

11. A miniature structure including adjacent walls formed of materialsincluding juxtaposed paper tubes glued together along adjacent edges,securing means adjacent the corners of said walls, said securing meansbeing a flanged strip secured to each adjacent Wall, one of the tubes incertain of said walls extending inwardly of the wall forming surface ofthe wall tubes, and a floor member supported on the inwardly extendingportion.

12. An assembly for a miniature structure including, in combination, apaper pattern of the wall of a house or the like, said patternbeinglined upon one side and having an ornamental pattern on the other side,and a plurality of tubular members of substantially polygonal section,said .tubes being adapted to be secured together side by side and to besecured to the lined side of said pattern.

13. A miniature structure constructed of materials including tubes ofsubstantially polygonal contour and a pattern backing, said backingbeing lined on one side for locating said tubes relative to saidpattern, said pattern being ornamentally decorated upon the other sidethereof.

14. A miniature structure constructed of materials including tubes ofsubstantially polygonal contour and a pattern backing, said backingbeing lined on one side for locating said tubes relative to saidpattern, said pattern being ornamentally decorated upon the other sidethereof, said tubes being secured together side by side and being alsosecured to said pattern.

ROBERT J. JAUCH. RICHARD M. LANDER.

